pounce
April 12th, 2007, 04:59 AM
rough weather out there tonight. thunder, hail, all sorts of mayhem.
so, middle of the show. about 2500 or 3000 people in attendance, song and dance show, blammo - the power gets knocked out. totally. even the backup generator gets somehow kocked out of commission. total blackout. and this is a big dark old place.
lots of minor freaking out. also, lots of older people at this show and they had some extra trouble navigating out of the venue.
i was there for about 45 minutes or so after the power got knocked out just helping people out. i fired up my 17" powerbook and used it to help light the stairs from the balcony for the crowds as they made their way out. that worked real well. all available flashlights were used around the building to help the crowds get out.
anyhow, it seemed surreal that we spent so long in total darkness. the crew was cut and we were all told to come back at our regular time for the scheduled show tomorrow. hope it goes ok. and also i hope i don't get pulled in to work on the electric in any way. that would be ugly.
the cast did come back out in the darkness and sang the last three numbers just to keep things calm. it was a nice touch. piano and vocals just floating around the room so that there wasn't total scared silence.
anyhow, the real pisser is that the show was sounding pretty good. tomorrow is the official "opening" of the show, this was a final dress rehearsal with a big audience. i had pretty much sussed out the audio concerns and it was shaping up pretty well. i turned off what i could, but i have no idea what i'll be coming back to tomorrow. i'm scared to think about it. ugh. i hope nothing is broken.
i haven't seen anything quite like this. it kind of sucks.
so, middle of the show. about 2500 or 3000 people in attendance, song and dance show, blammo - the power gets knocked out. totally. even the backup generator gets somehow kocked out of commission. total blackout. and this is a big dark old place.
lots of minor freaking out. also, lots of older people at this show and they had some extra trouble navigating out of the venue.
i was there for about 45 minutes or so after the power got knocked out just helping people out. i fired up my 17" powerbook and used it to help light the stairs from the balcony for the crowds as they made their way out. that worked real well. all available flashlights were used around the building to help the crowds get out.
anyhow, it seemed surreal that we spent so long in total darkness. the crew was cut and we were all told to come back at our regular time for the scheduled show tomorrow. hope it goes ok. and also i hope i don't get pulled in to work on the electric in any way. that would be ugly.
the cast did come back out in the darkness and sang the last three numbers just to keep things calm. it was a nice touch. piano and vocals just floating around the room so that there wasn't total scared silence.
anyhow, the real pisser is that the show was sounding pretty good. tomorrow is the official "opening" of the show, this was a final dress rehearsal with a big audience. i had pretty much sussed out the audio concerns and it was shaping up pretty well. i turned off what i could, but i have no idea what i'll be coming back to tomorrow. i'm scared to think about it. ugh. i hope nothing is broken.
i haven't seen anything quite like this. it kind of sucks.